For the first time in my life, I am attempting to read through the Bible in a year. It is an enjoyable and meaningful exercise, and I am grateful to my accountability partner John for walking beside me in this endeavor. Right now I am in Genesis and Psalms. I love Genesis for the historical and theological readings, but for me nothing in the Bible can stand up to the Psalms for drawing me into glorifying God. Some of my favorite Psalms are 1, 18, 40, 77, and 139.
This is Psalm 139 (NASB)
1O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.
3You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
5You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,"
12Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day Darkness and light are alike to You.
13For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb.
14I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.
15My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.
17How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand When I awake, I am still with You.
19O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
20For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies.
23Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
What a profound look at God's omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. A good practice to have is to pray the Psalms back to God as a form of worship. Another idea is to rewrite to Psalm in your own words, than pray that to God. David's words are great, but something from your heart is great too. For example I will include my personal rewording of Psalm 139.
Oh God! Make me transparent
As I already am to You
You know my actions
My hang-outs, cliques, and thoughts
I cannot say a word that You do not already know
You have me surrounded
I have to put up my hands in surrender.
Where could I escape to?
The skies, the depths, heaven, hell - You are there
The darkness of depression
The lights of fame
They are the same to you.
You made me - and You did a wonderful job
Thank you for that - cause I sometimes doubt my utility
You laid out my steps
Even before I knew how to walk
Now that is worthy of praise.
Keep me transparent - as I am
Even keep my righteous anger in check
Lead me in the steps you have for me.
I hope this can help you look at the Psalms as a living book, something you can go to no matter how you are feeling and get a good word about God.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Love: child of thankfulness
This past Sunday I taught Sunday school on the following passage. Seeing that the few of you who may read this site are probably not in my Sunday school class, I will talk about it with you.
Luke 7:40-50 - And Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he replied, "Say it, Teacher." "A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. "When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?" Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have judged correctly." Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. "You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. "You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." Then He said to her, "Your sins have been forgiven." Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?" And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Jesus is not saying that Simon the Pharisee truly had less sins that needed forgiveness. Jesus was showing that in his own heart, Simon did not acknowledge his sins. Lacking recognition of his depravity held Simon back from loving the Savior, Jesus. Simon was a religious man, a guy who should have known the Scriptures well enough to notice that he had not lived a perfectly holy life, that he was a sinner. However, Simon was self-righteous. Simon was the perfect foil for the sinful woman. Naturally, we would look at this woman, who is believed to have been a prostitute, as the villain in the story. Yet her love and broken nature towards Jesus makes her into the protagonist here. The prostitute is who we are shown to emulate, not the religious man.
Let's look at this in light of how we can use this in our lives. We must recognize our sins. ALL OF THEM! It is so easy to be thankful to God for clearing us of our "big sins". Premarital sex, drug use, thievery, and the like are the sins we are glad Jesus died for. What about our unforgiveness to our first boyfriend/girlfriend that broke our heart in 9th grade that we have been carrying around for a decade? What about our lustful thoughts that creep into our heads when we are at the beach? What about our coveting of our neighrbor's shiny new corvette? Our "little" or "pet" sins are just as harmful to us as are our big sins. When we talk about people behind their backs, we are sinning. Jesus died for this sin as well as for any other sin. Once we recognize our sinfulness we are free to love God for who He truly is and what He did for us on the cross. When we are not thankful for the blood of Christ, we are not loving God. Worship, evangelism, tithing - all of these are wonderful, but without thankfulness to God for His divine forgiveness, we do not love HIM.
In this story in Luke, who had the impact? Who is remembered for their sacrificial act? Not the self-righteous pharisee, but the broken and thankful prostitute. Become broken for your sins, that is where you will find forgiveness.
Luke 7:40-50 - And Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he replied, "Say it, Teacher." "A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. "When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?" Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have judged correctly." Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. "You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. "You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." Then He said to her, "Your sins have been forgiven." Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?" And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Jesus is not saying that Simon the Pharisee truly had less sins that needed forgiveness. Jesus was showing that in his own heart, Simon did not acknowledge his sins. Lacking recognition of his depravity held Simon back from loving the Savior, Jesus. Simon was a religious man, a guy who should have known the Scriptures well enough to notice that he had not lived a perfectly holy life, that he was a sinner. However, Simon was self-righteous. Simon was the perfect foil for the sinful woman. Naturally, we would look at this woman, who is believed to have been a prostitute, as the villain in the story. Yet her love and broken nature towards Jesus makes her into the protagonist here. The prostitute is who we are shown to emulate, not the religious man.
Let's look at this in light of how we can use this in our lives. We must recognize our sins. ALL OF THEM! It is so easy to be thankful to God for clearing us of our "big sins". Premarital sex, drug use, thievery, and the like are the sins we are glad Jesus died for. What about our unforgiveness to our first boyfriend/girlfriend that broke our heart in 9th grade that we have been carrying around for a decade? What about our lustful thoughts that creep into our heads when we are at the beach? What about our coveting of our neighrbor's shiny new corvette? Our "little" or "pet" sins are just as harmful to us as are our big sins. When we talk about people behind their backs, we are sinning. Jesus died for this sin as well as for any other sin. Once we recognize our sinfulness we are free to love God for who He truly is and what He did for us on the cross. When we are not thankful for the blood of Christ, we are not loving God. Worship, evangelism, tithing - all of these are wonderful, but without thankfulness to God for His divine forgiveness, we do not love HIM.
In this story in Luke, who had the impact? Who is remembered for their sacrificial act? Not the self-righteous pharisee, but the broken and thankful prostitute. Become broken for your sins, that is where you will find forgiveness.
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